• Arizona lawmakers introduce the Rural Groundwater Management Act.
• The bill aims to safeguard five critical groundwater basins.
• Governor Hobbs calls for bipartisan support to pass the legislation.
February 3, 2025 — Last week, on January 30, Governor Katie Hobbs, alongside state lawmakers and local leaders, announced the introduction of the Rural Groundwater Management Act
(RGMA), a legislative proposal designed to protect Arizona’s rural water supplies. The bill, introduced in both the House and Senate, establishes Rural Groundwater Management Areas (RGMAs)—a new framework aimed at preserving groundwater in five key basins: Gila Bend, Hualapai Valley, Ranegras Plain, San Simon Valley, and Willcox.
“We have spent countless hours over many months carefully crafting legislation that will finally give our rural communities a voice and protect Arizona’s precious groundwater resources,” Hobbs stated in a press release.
Key Elements of the Bill.
The RGMA framework introduces local groundwater management councils to oversee conservation efforts and enforce water adequacy requirements. County boards of supervisors will be restricted from approving subdivision plats in these areas unless the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) confirms an adequate water supply.
State Rep. Chris Mathis (D), the House bill sponsor, emphasized the importance of local control in managing groundwater, calling the proposal “a straightforward framework with key guardrails to ensure meaningful reductions in groundwater level declines.”
In the Senate, Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D) echoed this sentiment, noting that the legislation emerged from months of stakeholder meetings and negotiations with municipal and agricultural representatives.
The Urgency of Groundwater Protection.
Concerns over unsustainable groundwater use have intensified in recent years, particularly as out-of-state corporations extract large amounts of water for agricultural exports. Mohave County Board of Supervisors Chairman Travis Lingenfelter cited foreign and out-of-state entities, which he claims have acquired tens of thousands of acres in the Hualapai Basin and pump millions of gallons daily.
Prescott Mayor Phil Goode reinforced the bipartisan nature of the issue, stating, “Last time I checked, there is no Democratic water and Republican water—there’s water for our state.”
The legislation marks the latest attempt to address rural Arizona’s ongoing water crisis. Similar measures failed to pass in previous sessions, but Hobbs and lawmakers are optimistic that this version will gain the necessary bipartisan support.
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Image:
Prescott, Arizona
, October 2013. Located in the center of the state, the town was formed in the 1860s. It has 809 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The town is the home of the world’s oldest rodeo, dating from 1888. Photo by Mike McBey. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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